| 1986 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 16 in the1986 Formula One World Championship | |||
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 25 May 1986 | ||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Francorchamps,Wallonia,Belgium[1] | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 6.940 km (4.312[2] miles) | ||
| Distance | 43 laps, 301.172 km (187.136 miles) | ||
| Weather | Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Honda | ||
| Time | 1:54.331 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | |
| Time | 1:59.282 on lap 31 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Honda | ||
| Second | Lotus-Renault | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1986 Belgian Grand Prix was aFormula Onemotor race held at theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 25 May 1986. It was the fifth race of the1986 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was the 44thBelgian Grand Prix and the 32nd to be held at Spa-Francorchamps. It was held over 43 laps of the 7-kilometre (4.35 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 301 kilometres (187 mi).
The race was won by British driverNigel Mansell, driving aWilliams-Honda. It was Mansell's first victory of the season. Brazilian driverAyrton Senna finished second in aLotus-Renault, with Sweden'sStefan Johansson third in aFerrari. Senna's result allowed him to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship from FrenchmanAlain Prost, who could only manage sixth in hisMcLaren-TAG.
Brabham entered only oneBT55, the car ofRiccardo Patrese.Elio de Angelis had been killed in a testing accident atCircuit Paul Ricard just over a week before the race.Williams-Honda driverNelson Piquet took pole late in the qualifying session using the team's spare car. Piquet's engine blew up in his race car during qualifying forcing him into the spare.[3]AustrianGerhard Berger scored his first front row start and the first for theBMW poweredBenetton after being fastest in Friday qualifying. His Friday time of 1:54.468 was half a second faster than his Saturday time but still good enough for the front row.[3] World ChampionAlain Prost was third in hisMcLaren-TAG with theLotus-Renault ofAyrton Senna completing the second row.Nigel Mansell qualified fifth in his Williams-Honda withTeo Fabi completing the top 6 in his Benetton-BMW.
Piquet won the start and led the field into the La Source hairpin but behind him was chaos. Senna had made a good start from the 2nd row and when Berger's car twitched under brakes Senna went to the outside and then turned hard into the right hand corner. In doing so he squeezed out Berger who in turn squeezed out Prost while avoiding Senna. Prost, who had gone inside when the Benetton twitched, hit the inside barrier damaging the nose of his car with the right front wing drooping on the ground. He then drove over Berger's wheel launching the rear of his McLaren into the air. Other drivers were forced to take avoiding action with Berger's teammate Fabi having to stop to avoid hitting his teammates damaged car while Prost's teammateKeke Rosberg had to do a complete 180 degree turn the wrong way to avoid the Benettons. However, the only car that retired from the crash was theLola-Ford ofPatrick Tambay who went inside the stopped Fabi but hit his right rear with his left front wheel and damaged the left front suspension putting him out on the spot. Through it all Senna emerged unscathed in 2nd place followed by Mansell and the twoFerraris ofStefan Johansson andMichele Alboreto.
Both Berger and Prost pitted at the end of lap 1 with Berger in for a long stop for repairs and Prost for a new nose cone, his rear suspension survived intact despite its unscheduled first corner flight. Mansell disposed of Senna on lap 2, but spun on lap 5,[4] falling back to 4th place. Piquet led until suffering turbo failure on lap 16 leaving Senna in front from Mansell, who shortly overtook Senna during pitstops. Prost emerged last on the road and only a few hundred metres in front of the leading Williams. On his way to being the last car on the lead lap and finishing in sixth place he set a new lap record of 1:59.282 on lap 31.
Nigel Mansell scored his first win of 1986 and the third win of his career. Senna, the cause of the first corner crash finished 20 seconds behind in second with Stefan Johansson finishing third after passing team leader Alboreto only two laps from home.Jacques Laffite finished fifth in hisLigier-Renault with Prost gaining a vital World Championship point for finishing sixth. Swiss driverMarc Surer finished ninth in hisArrows A8 in what would be the last Grand Prix of Surer's career – he would be seriously injured competing in theEuropean Rally Championship a week later. Post race Mansell dedicated his win to his friend and former team mateElio de Angelis who died just ten days prior to Spa in a testing accident at Paul Ricard.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 |  Nelson Piquet | Williams-Honda | 1:54.637 | 1:54.331 | — |
| 2 | 20 |  Gerhard Berger | Benetton-BMW | 1:54.468 | 1:54.939 | +0.137 |
| 3 | 1 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | 1:55.039 | 1:54.501 | +0.170 |
| 4 | 12 | Ayrton Senna | Lotus-Renault | 1:55.776 | 1:54.576 | +0.245 |
| 5 | 5 |  Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | 1:55.345 | 1:54.582 | +0.251 |
| 6 | 19 |  Teo Fabi | Benetton-BMW | 1:57.440 | 1:54.765 | +0.434 |
| 7 | 25 | René Arnoux | Ligier-Renault | 1:57.269 | 1:55.576 | +1.245 |
| 8 | 2 |  Keke Rosberg | McLaren-TAG | 1:56.534 | 1:55.662 | +1.331 |
| 9 | 27 | Michele Alboreto | Ferrari | 1:56.294 | 1:56.242 | +1.911 |
| 10 | 16 | Patrick Tambay | Lola-Ford | 1:58.574 | 1:56.309 | +1.978 |
| 11 | 28 |  Stefan Johansson | Ferrari | 1:57.697 | 1:56.496 | +2.165 |
| 12 | 3 | Martin Brundle | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:57.797 | 1:56.537 | +2.206 |
| 13 | 11 | Johnny Dumfries | Lotus-Renault | 1:58.619 | 1:57.462 | +3.131 |
| 14 | 18 |  Thierry Boutsen | Arrows-BMW | 1:57.918 | 1:57.612 | +3.281 |
| 15 | 7 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham-BMW | 2:00.357 | 1:57.612 | +3.281 |
| 16 | 15 |  Alan Jones | Lola-Ford | 1:59.180 | 1:57.815 | +3.484 |
| 17 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier-Renault | 1:58.238 | 2:27.817 | +3.907 |
| 18 | 4 | Philippe Streiff | Tyrrell-Renault | 1:59.347 | 1:58.603 | +4.272 |
| 19 | 23 | Andrea de Cesaris | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 2:00.984 | 1:59.960 | +5.629 |
| 20 | 14 | Jonathan Palmer | Zakspeed | 2:02.307 | 2:00.148 | +5.817 |
| 21 | 17 |  Marc Surer | Arrows-BMW | 2:01.320 | 2:01.415 | +4.661 |
| 22 | 24 | Alessandro Nannini | Minardi-Motori Moderni | 2:01.528 | 2:01.354 | +7.023 |
| 23 | 29 |  Huub Rothengatter | Zakspeed | 2:06.006 | 2:03.842 | +9.511 |
| 24 | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 2:05.092 | 3:38.767 | +10.761 |
| 25 | 22 |  Christian Danner | Osella-Alfa Romeo | 2:09.465 | 2:06.219 | +11.888 |
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